Flash 8 Cookbook

7.3. Making Text Follow a Curve

Problem

You want to add to your Flash movie text that follows a curve.

Solution

Use another application like Freehand or Illustrator to create text that follows a path, and then import that content into the Flash document.

Discussion

Flash does not currently allow you to attach text to a path or curve as other drawing applications do. However, you can use another program such as Freehand or Illustrator to create the text as you want it, and then import that text as paths into your Flash document.

With both Freehand and Illustrator you have two options. First of all, Flash allows you to import both Freehand and Illustrator (versions up to Illustrator 10) files directly. You can select File → Import to Stage or File → Import to Library, and then select the file that you want to import.

First, let’s look at what you need to consider when you import a Freehand file. When you try to import, you will be presented with the Freehand Import dialog box, and you will be prompted to make a few choices. For single-page Freehand documents, the first two sections don’t necessarily apply. But if you look at the third section, Options, you will see an option to Maintain Text Blocks. Make sure this box is unchecked. In the case of text attached to a curve, this option should not make a difference, because the text will be imported as paths (meaning that it’s no longer editable text) regardless. But for other kinds of text, such as subscripted and superscripted text, if you ...